Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The Darker My Horizon, the clearer and lighter the past seems, without the benefit of hindsight, without the ability to see what that future brings, the more it is shrouded in a thick veil of mist. Impossible to perceive what you might be doing in two years time and yet in full glorious Technicolor you can sit back and transport yourself a decade and relive an emotion that may have been as powerful as a seismic shock across a continent, such is the power of Time and it is the kick in the fat underbelly of those who cannot see beyond their own reluctance just how timely the band’s album Acquiesce is.

The album sits with patience, with a sense of nobility hanging in the air, a purpose that cannot be bought or manufactured and yet it has the grace to also be rich in its own light and one that dispels any lingering shadow. The band certainly give joy a sense of urgency, a pleasant throwback to a time when Rock was all about the pleasure and none of the pain, like that first date with the person of your dreams but with none of the hangover of squabbles and games that happen further down the line.

There is no time to resist when it comes to an album of strong fortitude, you either submit or agree to comply with the demands on the music table; The Darker My Horizon, the more you should search for the light that once guided you thus far. To Acquiesce is to feel the mysterious give way to the shadowy enigmatic, the furtive becoming flirty and out of the ordinary, this is a set of songs that are mean, moody but have a heart of gold; like a teenager who has had issues all day from friends and family but still finds the honesty in their bones to cross an old lady over the road, there is nothing but good to be found in here.

With tracks such as the opener Closure, Summertime, Paradise, I Can’t Save You and the fantastic Gasoline and Opium all making waves, all being within the range of excellent and alluring, Acquiesce is to be seen as a tremendous album in which to naturally gravitate towards, there is no need for any lack of enthusiasm, this is as keen and sensitive as you possibly want from an album.

Ian D. Hall